Central Northwest garage fire under investigation

By Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com

Houston fire authorities say they are working to determine what led to a garage fire that caused thousands of dollars’ worth of damage in the Central Northwest area earlier this month, ac- cording to the Houston Fire Department.

Nobody was reported injured in the fire, according to the department.

More than 30 firefighters from stations 4, 13, 15, 49, 50, and 67 responded within six minutes to a call of a garage fire just before 7 p.m. on

July 12 in the 5000 block of Droddy Street in Central Northwest, according to HFD.

On arrival, the department said crews found fire coming from a detached garage next to a home. However, crews were able to extinguish the fire and any resulting was a 1973 graduate of GC Scarborough High School in Houston and a proud 1977 graduate of his beloved Texas A&M University. Gig ‘em! He then received a medical degree from UT Southwestern Medical School in 1982 and went on to complete a residency and fellowship in oncology at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. There, he met his wife Patty, and took up a position at the Sammons Cancer Center and Texas Oncology, where he served patients from 1995 until his retirement in 2021. He is remembered as a wise and inspirational mentor by students at the Texas A&M School of Medicine, as well as interns and fellows at Baylor. His accomplishments as a clinician, researcher, and teacher are well-recognized by the audiences of his presentations in dozens of countries across a number of continents, readers of impactful publications in major medical journals, and as a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. His spirit of doing good, his passion for curing cancer, and his sense of adventure drew him to hospitals from Vietnam to Costa Rica. John's family built a treasure trove of memories on journeys together, tagging along to far- ung locales from Lisbon to Hong Kong, on bikes around Europe, or in the bleachers of Kyle Field as well as the better portion of Major League ballparks across the US. When not with family, patients, or cheering crowds, he could usually be found in nature hiking, watching birds, or in his garden. He really loved the family lakehouse on Richland Chambers Reservoir, playing golf with friends at Lakewood Country Club and watching his beloved Houston Astros. John (Rusty) was preceded in life by his parents, John Eldred Sr. and Lauree Slack Pippen. John is survived by his wife, Patricia, two sons, Jack (Denton, Tx) and Charlie (Washington D.C.) and his sister, Maureen and her husband Andres Harnisch (Honolulu). hot spots to keep the fire from spreading.

Arson investigators are still trying to determine the cause and starting point of the fire, according to the department, which caused an estimated $55,000 worth of damage to the garage.